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Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat

(AP) Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran. Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.

riversedge

All four living former presidents deny Trump's bizarre Iran bombing claim

(Raw Story) Aides to all four living presidents confirmed to CNN on Monday that none of them have spoken with President Donald Trump about his bombing strikes in Iran, as Trump claimed during a press conference. Trump claimed in the Oval Office that he had spoken to a former president about bombing Iran, and that the former president had approved of the operation. Trump added that the former president claimed he "wished" he had made the decision to bomb Iran. The president also declined to identify which president he was talking about.

BumRushDaShow

Trump upset as US partners reject call for Hormuz warship escorts

(Reuters) Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.

surfered

Trump Stuns CNN Anchor With Head-Spinning Flip-Flops In Minutes

(Huff Post) CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Monday aired a montage showing Donald Trump contradicting himself multiple times within a matter of minutes on the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by his Iran war. Trump’s demand that traditionally allied nations send warships to help the U.S. Navy safeguard the narrow channel off the coast of Iran — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes — has received, at best, a muted response.

babylonsister

Trump Has Lost Working Class White Voters

(Political Wire) G. Elliot Morris: “In our data, this group recalled voting for Trump by 22 points in 2024. But these voters now give him a net approval of -4 — or a 26-point swing against him.” “The working-class whites who powered Trump’s rise are, for the first time, opposed to how he’s handling his job as president.”

Pototan

We're frightened here

For those who may not know, I'm retired in the Philippines and live here about 10 or 11 months a year. I'm 73 years old and my Filipina wife is 71. The Philippines gets 98% of its fuel from the Middle East. Already the price of diesel (most passenger vehicles run on diesel) has skyrocketed. The price at the pump today in Iloilo Province was 98 Philippine Pesos (PHP) per liter. That translates to $6.28 a gallon. That's really not the worst part. This country only has a 50-day supply of reserve. If this war goes on for two more months, we're out of fuel.

TexasTowelie

Jon Stewart Invites Panel of Trumps to Debate Iran War

Zorro

Trump Presidential Library Fund Paid by Companies He Sued Has Dissolved With No Public Accounting, Lawmakers Allege

(International Business Times) Tens of millions of dollars that ABC, Meta, X and Paramount paid to settle Donald Trump's lawsuits, intended for his future presidential library, allegedly ended up in a fund that quietly dissolved in Florida without any public disclosure of where the money went. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), together with Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), sent formal letters on March 11, 2026 to the chief executives of all four companies demanding answers about the terms of their deals and the current location of the pledged funds.

Zorro

Trump Orders Scores of Kennedy Center Staff Fired in Final Insult

(Daily Beast) In his presidential sidequest to overhaul the Kennedy Center, Donald Trump wants to get rid of most of the people who make it work. Dozens of employees of the historic performing arts center are on the chopping block after its board of trustees, handpicked by Trump, 79, voted to approve a two-year renovation project on Monday, CNN reported. Monday’s meeting minutes said that “approximately 75 to 175 of the Center’s roughly 300 employees” would be impacted by the two-year full shutdown, according to the outlet.

BumRushDaShow

Postmaster Warns of 'End of Postal Service as We Know It'

(Newsweek) The head of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is expected to tell Congress on Tuesday that the agency needs to increase its borrowing capacity or face "the end of the Postal Service as we know it now." "In order to ensure our survival beyond next year, we need ⁠to increase our borrowing capacity so that we don't run out of cash," Postmaster General David Steiner's written testimony obtained by Reuters said. "The failure to do this could lead to the end of the Postal Service as we know it now."

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'Never heard him so angry': MAGA senator posts - then deletes - story of furious Trump

2 min ago - March 17, 2026 11:12AM ET Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) published – and immediately deleted – a post on social media Tuesday sharing details of a conversation he had moments earlier with President Donald Trump who, according to Graham, was abs ... (Raw Story)

Judge reinstates 1,000 Voice of America employees, deems wind-down illegal

23 min ago - March 17, 2026 at 5:33 p.m. EDT Voice of America employees have spent a full year on paid administrative leave while President Donald Trump's administration has tried to shrink the international broadcaster to its "statutory minimum." That extended a ... (Washington Post)

Senate begins marathon debate on SAVE America Act under pressure from Trump

42 min ago - Updated on: March 17, 2026 / 4:04 PM EDT Washington — The Senate voted Tuesday to begin a marathon debate session over the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that President Trump has been pressing Republicans in Congress to pass, despite its di ... (CBS News)

Oil flows again through controversial California pipeline after Trump order

44 min ago - Oil has begun to flow from a controversial California pipeline system for the first time in an more than decade following a Trump administration order, despite state officials decrying the move. Sable Offshore Corporation, the Houston-based owner of ... (The Guardian)

Vatican appeals court declares mistrial in the 'trial of the century' against a cardinal

1 hr ago - By NICOLE WINFIELD Updated 1:59 PM CDT, March 17, 2026 Leer en español ROME (AP) — The Vatican appeals tribunal declared a mistrial Tuesday in the Holy See’s big “trial of the century,” a stunning blow to both Pope Francis ... (AP)

Summer Lee [D-PA12] introduces articles of impeachment against AG Pam Bondi

1 hr ago - Jonathan D. Salant For the Post-Gazette Mar 17, 2026 11:30 AM WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee moved Tuesday to impeach Attorney General Pam Bondi for failing to fully release the files regarding the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein ... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Federal judge in D.C. issues new grand jury policy after failed indictment of Democrats

1 hr ago - March 17, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT The chief federal judge for the District of Columbia has ordered that the judiciary be notified when a grand jury rejects the Trump administration's attempts to indict defendants, following the failed effort to charge six ... (NBC News)

White House says US seeking fertilizer from Venezuela, Morocco

1 hr ago - March 17, 2026 8:15 AM EDT Updated 7 hours ago WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is seeking other sources of fertilizer ‌amid the ongoing Iran war's shipping constraints, including from Venezuela and possibly Moroc ... (Reuters)

Rubio calls for new Cuban leaders as latest blackout underscores deepening economic crisis

1 hr ago - HAVANA (AP) — The Trump administration made clear Tuesday that it sees Cuba as the next country where the U.S. can play out its desires on the world stage. “Cuba right now is in very bad shape,” President Donald Trump said, a day after ... (AP)

Trump Is Quietly Trying to Free Man Who Lied About Hunter Biden

2 hrs ago - He worked with Russia and Republicans to build a web of lies that could incriminate President Joe Biden. Now he’s being rewarded. Alexander Smirnov’s various deceptions about Biden and his family—which included telling the FBI that bot ... (Newrepublic.com)

Roberts on personal attacks against judges: 'It's got to stop'

2 hrs ago - 03/17/26 2:40 PM ET Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday pushed back on personal attacks against judges, calling it “dangerous” and a “problem.” “Judges around the country work very hard to get it right, and if they don ... (The Hill)

Belgian court clears way for trial over 1961 killing of Congo PM Lumumba

2 hrs ago - A Belgian court has ruled that a former diplomat can stand trial in connection with the killing in 1961 of Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first prime minister. Etienne Davignon, now 93, is accused of involvement in the unlawful detention and transfer of Lu ... (BBC)

Sarah Palin overturned a judge's erroneous decisions and kept defamation lawsuit she lost twice going - only to end it

3 hrs ago - Mar 17th, 2026, 10:30 am Former Republican governor of Alaska and onetime candidate for vice president Sarah Palin quietly walked away from her appeal of her second trial loss to the New York Times, bringing a nearly nine-year saga and defamation la ... (Law & Crime)

Iran keeps up attacks on neighbors after Israel says it killed 2 of its top officials

3 hrs ago - By JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING, MIKE CORDER and SAMY MAGDY Updated 12:58 PM CDT, March 17, 2026 Leer en español DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it killed two senior Iranian security officials in overnight strikes in ... (AP)

Israel urges Iranians to revolt but privately assesses they'll be 'slaughtered'

3 hrs ago - Senior Israeli officials have told U.S. diplomats that Iranian protesters will “get slaughtered” if they take to the streets against their government even as Israel publicly calls for a popular uprising, according to a State Department cabl ... (Washington Post)

Trump invites farmers, biofuels producers to White House event

3 hrs ago - March 17, 2026 7:30 AM EDT Updated 1 hour ago March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has invited farmers and biofuel producers to an agriculture ‌event at the White House next week, two sources familiar with the planning said, as his a ... (Reuters)

Exclusive: US encourages Syrian action against Hezbollah, Damascus is hesitant, sources say

4 hrs ago - The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to embark on such a mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming secta ... (Reuters)

Epstein files: House panel subpoenas AG Pam Bondi to appear for deposition

4 hrs ago - Published Tue, Mar 17 2026 1:35 PM EDT Updated 10 Min Ago The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Tuesday said it has subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi to sit for a deposition on the Department of Justice's handling of matters r ... (CNBC)

Judge Ejects Federal Prosecutor From Court and Orders Bosses to Testify

5 hrs ago - Judge Ejects Federal Prosecutor From Court and Orders Bosses to Testify Judge Zahid Quraishi ordered a hearing on who had the authority to lead New Jersey's top federal law enforcement office. The events on Monday in Judge Zahid N. Quraishi's courtro ... (New York Times)

MTA sues Trump administration over order to halt Second Avenue subway funding

5 hrs ago - Published Mar 17, 2026 at 10:25 a.m. ET Modified Mar 17, 2026 at 11:28 a.m. ET The MTA sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for withholding federal funding for the expansion of the Second Avenue subway into East Harlem. The lawsuit, filed in the ... (Gothamist/WNYC New York, NY)